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Southampton: Saints tried to sign Son Heung-min under Pochettino

By Marc Walker

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur battles for possession with Cedric Soares of Southampton during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC at Wembley Stadium on December 5, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur battles for possession with Cedric Soares of Southampton during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC at Wembley Stadium on December 5, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Southampton reportedly tried to sign current Spurs star Son Hueng-min whilst Mauricio Pochettino was still in charge at St Mary’s.

A report from the inews.co.uk’s Sam Cunningham has stated that Pochettino and then head of recruitment Paul Mitchell had identified the South Korean international as a transfer target shortly before he joined Bayer Leverkusen from Hamburg.

The 16-month spell under the Argentine proved to be a highly successful period for Saints and the signing of a talent such as Son could have made it even more impressive.

Spurs have benefited hugely from the 26-year-old’s scoring and creativity recently and he has a superb record of 63 goals and 35 assists in 172 appearances for the North London club.

As it was, Pochettino left Saints after guiding the club to an 8th placed finish in the Premier League and an exodus of players such as Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers then followed.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 13: Son Heung-Min of Tottenham is greeted by Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino after being subbed during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on February 13, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 13: Son Heung-Min of Tottenham is greeted by Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino after being subbed during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on February 13, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

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The fact that Saints were linked to such a name as Son in that spell between 2013 and 2014 shows just how good their scouting network was under Paul Mitchell.

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Like Pochettino, he left Saints to join Spurs and carried on much of the highly impressive recruitment work that he had done on the South Coast.

In recent times, the club has looked to move away from the signing of young players with great potential to bring in already established names, but that hasn’t really been beneficial in the long-term.

Club chairman Ralph Krueger spoke at a fans forum recently and said that they would be looking to return to the ways that had served them so well in the past.

Whilst some signings eventually caused a problem for them when the bigger clubs become interested – particularly when Liverpool started to pursue moves for Dejan Lovren and then Virgil Van-Dijk – building a highly successful team for a short period could see the club rise back up the Premier League table.

Even with the riches on offer to Saints with the top-flight TV rights deal, they are never going to be able to compete with the financial clout of the top-six sides so are better to enjoy talented and successful teams for a shorter period.

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